


Homemade Iced Latte

by hl_gray



Series: It's SwanQueen for Me [2]
Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/F, Family, Family Feels, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, OOC Cora, OOC Regina, Young Emma Swan, Young Evil Queen | Regina Mills
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-22
Updated: 2020-09-21
Packaged: 2021-03-07 17:41:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,631
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26591572
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hl_gray/pseuds/hl_gray
Summary: Alternate Universe. Young Swan Queen."Regina felt a painful tug in her chest, like her heart dropping to her stomach, when Emma shot her a huge smile. She blew out a breath in an attempt to relieve herself from the nervousness she’s feeling right now.God damn it, Regina. Get yourself together."
Relationships: Evil Queen | Regina Mills/Emma Swan, Queen of Hearts | Cora/Regina's Father | Henry Mills Sr.
Series: It's SwanQueen for Me [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1918759
Comments: 5
Kudos: 20





	Homemade Iced Latte

There are a lot of things Regina Mills doesn’t know about. 

As a teen herself, it doesn’t feel good to admit that. She likes to think she knows a lot, and she knows the people around her so well. Apparently, that’s not true.

She’s currently staring at the living proof of it.

Holding her keys tightly, Regina stared at her mother sitting on her usual spot in the local cafe in their town. There are a lot of things wrong with what she’s seeing right now. Maybe making sense of every bit one by one will help stop her brain from exploding then and there.

  1. It’s a local cafe. There are only two cafes in the town, and her favorite one is deemed as the “lower class” one. It’s one of the reasons why this became Regina’s favorite cafe. Aside from the fact that it serves good coffee for a cheaper price (one that is just perfect for her allowance) and has homey ambiance, it’s the one her mother wouldn’t likely choose to go (‘cause they both love coffee so much, the only common ground she has with her mother) because, again, it’s cheap.

  2. Her mother is smiling… and laughing freely.

  3. Her mother is smiling and laughing with the barista Regina has a crush on. With that, Regina’s brain short-circuited, thinking whether her mother was plotting something (which wouldn’t really be a surprise). She never told anyone about her silly crush, not even to her older sister or her best friend. No one knows, because Regina is so scared the word would spread and the blonde barista would know about it. Regina is also scared she would be teased mercilessly (a definite possibility when it comes to her sister… teamed up with her best friend) then the barista… or one of the baristas would hear, and Regina would want the ground to swallow her whole.

  4. Judging by her mother’s body language, Cora is more than comfortable in the cafe, as if she had been going there her whole life. It still feels weird for Regina to see her mother laughing and smiling. Growing up, Cora had always been the “disciplinarian” parent, rarely smiling and laughing inside their home. She always had her mouth turned upside down, and her eyes in constant glare directed to their father, to Zelena, and to Regina herself, of course.




Before Regina could turn to leave, her eyes connected with the hazel eyes she always wants to stare at. Her heart fluttered when the blonde barista obviously recognized her, gave her a shy smile, and waved a little. 

To Regina’s horror, the barista’s small gesture went noticed by her own mother, making Cora turn around to look at who made the barista blush as red as a tomato.

Cora’s eyebrows almost got caught up with her hairline. It was a comical expression from her mother, one she was sure her older sister would kill somebody just to see. Regina is doing everything in her power not to open her cellphone and take a picture of the unusual look on their mother.

Her mother gestured for her to go inside.

Regina’s breath hitched.

No.

Lots of GIFs screaming “NO” flashed through her mind, ones that Zelena sends her whenever they would chat.

Regina knows she’d more likely be in trouble if she made her mother gesture twice. Without thinking, her feet moved to enter the cafe. She was really trembling, and she could only hope that it doesn’t show on the outside.

She’s walking towards the only two people that scares her the most… for completely different reasons.

“Hi… mother.” Regina winced and cleared her throat when it cracked. She narrowed her eyes when she noticed how her mother briefly looked as if she pitied Regina.

“Join me, dear.” Regina took a seat on the empty chair in front of her mother. “Emma, this is my youngest, Regina… though I assume you both know each other?” Regina hates the absurd spark of mischief in her mother’s eyes.

This day is by far the weirdest in the 17 years she’s been on Earth.

“Oh, Ms. Mills — ”

“Cora, dear.” Regina’s eyebrows went up when she heard her mother’s correction. Her mother never lets anyone call her “Cora” apart from her father, and her mother’s closest friends.

“ — Cora, Regina’s actually one of our regulars too.” Regina felt a painful tug in her chest, like her heart dropping to her stomach, when Emma shot her a huge smile. She blew out a breath in an attempt to relieve herself from the nervousness she’s feeling right now.

God damn it, Regina. Get yourself together.

She knows her cheeks turned red when she saw how her mother had to bite the inside of her cheeks to stop a laugh while staring at her.  That look she is so familiar with… but has never been directed at her. That look was always directed to Zelena, whenever her sister drops a one-liner that is so funny, that Cora has to bite back her laugh because she’s supposed to be the tough parent between her and Regina’s father. 

On fewer occasions, she also sees that on her mother’s face whenever her father says something sweet and endearing and funny to Cora (which only the both of them can understand… probably an inside joke), and Regina’s glad she witnessed that only a handful of times.

“Oh, really?” When she caught the brief slur in her mother’s voice, she didn't know whether she would vomit first, or run away and never return again. “How come we never see each other only ‘till now, darling?” 

“I — ”

“Oh, I’m afraid I’m needed back there. TTYL, Cora… and Regina.” The blonde’s smile was enough to make Regina speechless as she swooned… though she is also debatably speechless with how the blonde used slang to her mother… one she could never do, but Zelena always does to drive their mother insane. As Emma jogged back to the counter, Regina was brought back from her trance at her mother’s loud voice.

“Do say hello to your mothers for me, dear!” When Regina looked at the blonde, she saw how her mother got a thumbs up from the blonde, making Regina really, really fear for Emma’s life.

“Regina, please don’t tell me you’re always like this whenever you’re here…” The pity in her mother’s voice made Regina turn to her and glare so hard.

“I’m not.” 

“Something tells me that’s not true.” 

“I really am not!” Regina almost cringed with how she sounded like a grumpy child.

“Sure, dear, whatever you say… You know… I just want you to know your father and I are perfectly fine with you being attracted to girls… okay?” The uncertainty in her mother’s voice made Regina clench her fist with the onslaught of confusing emotions she’s currently feeling.

All she knows is that this conversation isn’t really fit to be made in a public place… let alone in a place where the girl she’s attracted to is a few feet away.

“Right…”

“You can talk to us, anytime you want, okay, dear?” The softness in her mother’s voice was so new to Regina, it made her skin crawl. She’s not used to this kind of conversation with her mother, as detachment had been one of her coping mechanisms. She isn’t like Zelena, who seems to have no problem connecting to both their parents. She’s awkward, and admittedly emotionally stunted, making her tremble when it comes to confrontations with other people.

“Yeah…” Regina can’t even look at her mother’s eyes.

“I know I may not seem so approachable, and I deeply regret that that made you think that you cannot talk to me… or to anyone in our family, but I love you, dear, and we’re always here for you, alright?” Regina looked up and saw how her mother was smiling softly at her, making her heart clench… a completely different feeling from when Emma smiled at her. Tears were making her eyes blurry, and she only knew one fell down when her mother wiped it with her thumb.

“I…” Regina can’t form something to say back, only nodding in response. This is one of the reasons why she hates her family, making her unable to handle her emotions. All these years she’s been forced to swallow them down and hide them, as the deeply unsettling feeling of not belonging always makes itself known to Regina, and it makes her cry every night.

“Alright…” Her mother gave her a squeeze on her left upper arm. Regina hates herself for melting at the completely small gesture of assurance from her mother. “So, what are you going to get?” When Cora raised her hand, Regina’s eyes bulged. She was ready to stand and order at the counter because that’s how this cafe works, but her mother was acting as if this was a fine dining restaur —

“Regina’s going to order.” Her mother’s voice cut her thoughts off. She looked at her right and saw Emma looking at her with a smile on her face, paper, and pen ready to take her orders.

“But, aren’t we supposed — ”

“Oh, Cora gets special treatment here… unless I want both my mothers to cut my head off.” Emma’s wide and kind smile will honestly be the death of her. “I assume you’d get your usual?” 

Regina can only nod as she got distracted when she heard her mother snort, like a failed attempt to stop a laugh.

“Okie! Oh! Cora, Mom told me they’re going to be here tomorrow, around 12 noon.” At Cora’s nod, Regina craned her neck as she watched Emma walk away again. Regina turned to her mother again, like a deer caught in headlights, as she heard the long sigh.

“Oh, darling.”

  
  
  



End file.
